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Job Seeker, Are You Memorable?

My daughter was in a musical theater camp during the summer, and she adored her instructor, Pam. "Pam is the best!" she'd exclaim every day when I picked her up. So when Pam was performing in a show herself, we went to see her.

Afterwards, my daughter and I headed to a diner for pie and a post-show assessment. I let my daughter speak first. "Pam was good. But -- I kept forgetting she was in the play," she said. The kid was dead-on. Pam is lovely, has a beautiful voice, and dances like a dream. On stage, she fades into the scenery. She's not memorable.

The Job Seeker's Challenge

Pam as a young performer has plenty of time left to find her feet onstage. Job-seekers have a similar challenge to surmount, but only one shot (per employer) to surmount it. If we're not memorable to the people who interview us, we're sunk.

It's one thing to have a hiring manager ask aloud, "That Jack Smith -- do you think he has enough marketing research experience for us?" It's another thing entirely to have the same manager ask aloud, "Now, remind me who was Jack Smith, again?"

Too many job-seekers fade into the furniture during job interviews. They don't get called for second interviews, and not because their skills are lacking. They're not dynamic, powerful, or significant in an interview conversation. Ten minutes after they've left, the interviewer is wondering, "What did he say, again?" This may be the biggest problem job-seekers face in the interview setting: They can worry so much about saying the wrong thing that they say nothing of substance at all.

How to Be Memorable

How do you make yourself memorable in an interview? It's not much different than taking command of the stage in a theatrical performance. You have to believe that you're meant to be there, in that room, talking about that job. You have to be fully present. That means that you can't slip into a side conversation with yourself, wondering, "Is the interview going well? Did I answer that last question okay?" You have to stay in the moment; you have to be present 100 percent. That's not easy to do, but it's essential.

Last week I gave a speech at a conference and spoke to a half-dozen attendees afterward. When I got back to my office the next day, I had an email message from one of the people I'd chatted with. I struggled to put a face with her name, and failed utterly. I looked at her email signature; it was no help. I looked up her LinkedIn profile -- nothing.

The lady and I had chatted for five minutes, but a day later I had no recollection of her at all. I suspect that I know why: She was outside the conversation, second-guessing herself and testing out her comments in her head. She wasn't completely there with me -- the conversation was brief and formal and stilted. I couldn't recall it the next day. That's exactly what you don't want to do in a job interview.

Know Your Key Messages

Memorable people are people who say what they think, without filters. They already know how they feel on key issues. They already know, before they walk in the room, what their answer to "Why do you want to change jobs?" and "What interests you about our company?" and "What is your greatest strength?" will be. They don't waffle or meander.

Memorable job seekers are confident that the employer wouldn't have asked them to show up if the employer didn't believe they were worth talking to. They approach an interview to learn as much as to sell. Their presentation is all the more impressive as a result.

As my friend Brad says, "I don't mind if a manager asks herself, 'Do I want to pay as much as that Brad demands?' as long as she remembers who I am." As Brad knows, everything else in the selection equation is solvable. Being forgotten during an interview round is not.